This is a sign of our potential - Gallagher
MANAGER Rory Gallagher urged Derry to be ambitious and strive to become ‘one of the top teams in Ulster and in the country’ again after capturing the Division 3 league title.
Top-tier finalists as recently as 2014, Derry then slid down the ranks, with three separate relegations landing them in Division 4 in 2019.
But they appear to be on the up again with a powerfullooking team led from midfield by former Aussie Rules player Conor Glass.
‘I expected to get promotion, I expect to win all the games,’ said Gallagher. ‘I expect us to be a wee bit better than we are, that’s a sign of our potential.
‘But we had to prove that we were good enough to get out of Division 3. I’d be very pleased with the attitude and commitment to each other. There were moments today when I felt we just took wrong options and we were a bit selfish on the ball, which I wouldn’t be happy with.
‘It’s not always bad luck when you miss certain chances, and we’ve worked on that. We want to be one of the top teams in Ulster and in the country and to do that we had to get out of Division 3.’
Next up for Derry is an Ulster quarter-final clash with Down or Donegal on July 11, a date Gallagher has been pondering for a while.
‘We were thinking about that (Championship game) after the first league game,’ said Gallagher. ‘We felt, the way we came out of the blocks, it was going to take a very unlikely series of events for us not to get promoted. So our eyes have been on Down and Donegal.’
Offaly manager John Maughan’s eyes are even more firmly focused on their Championship opener against Louth next weekend. They didn’t have to play the Division 3 final, given the short turnaround, though Maughan admitted he had no regrets about that.
‘No, none whatsoever,’ said Maughan, who was buoyed by the presence of 2,400 spectators. ‘I’d say there were 2,300 fans from Offaly. A stadium of this size should be well able to accommodate that, with where we are in the vaccination rollout. It was nice, I know there was a big demand for tickets. It was good to see people back.’